The task of redacting education records for public review is apparently a time-consuming and expensive one.

Russel Langley/The Oak Ridger

by Russel Langley

rlangley@oakridger.com

The task of redacting education records for public review is apparently a time-consuming and expensive one.

According to Oak Ridge Schools (ORS) Superintendent, Bruce Borchers the district has spent almost $10,000 in attorney’s fees alone responding to open records requests from Don and Annette Heitman, the parents of the school system’s former business office supervisor, Alex Heitman.

“This does not include all of the time that ORS staff has had to spend on this case as well,” Borchers wrote in an email to The Oak Ridger.

The Heitmans, of Wisconsin, have been trying to find out why their son was found dead of what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a remote area of Cocke County in July 2011. A large part of their frustrations, according to Annette, has been access to public records from the Cocke County Sheriff’s Department, Oak Ridge Police Department, and Oak Ridge Schools.

According to state officials, it appears that Oak Ridge Schools officials are following open records laws.

On June 27, 2014, the Heitmans received a letter from the schools’ attorney, Charles Cagle of Nashville, that denied their request to obtain copies of Alex’s work-related documents. Cagle based his denial on a section of Tennessee law that states government agencies are not required to provide access to people who are not citizens of the state. Cagle further advised the Heitmans that if they chose to have a Tennessee citizen act as their agent there would still be a significant fee to be paid — one that could be in excess of $2,000.

Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn, via emails, has told the Heitmans and The Oak Ridger that she will be their Tennessee agent. Baughn has requested a breakdown of the charges from Borchers. In his reply, Borchers explained that the Heitmans could look at the documents previously provided to the media free of charge, but that there would be a charge to obtain the additional documents requested by the Heitmans.

In an email sent to Borchers and copied to Elisha Hodge, local media, and local attorney Phil Harber on Wednesday, Baughn wrote, “I am formally requesting to inspect the complete school-funded cell phone records of Tom Bailey, Ken Green, Karen Gagliano and Alex Heitman for the periods of June 1, 2011-July 31, 2011. I understand that according to TN law, fees cannot be charged for inspection, but if you intend to assess a fee, please state what that fee will be and provide a legal basis for that fee.”

Borchers did not give a breakdown of the costs associated with producing those records. In response to an email from The Oak Ridger, Borchers explained that the school district follows the fee schedule adopted by the state comptroller’s office. Elisha Hodge, open records counsel for the state comptroller, explained that agencies may charge 15-cents per black-and-white copy and 50-cents per color copy. The first hour of labor to produce the documents is free, but after that agencies may charge the hourly rate(s) of the employee(s) needed to produce the records.

Hodge said that districts could not charge a fee simply for citizens to view records without certain “exceptions” being present. In a phone interview, Hodge said that those exceptions exist for utility records but was unclear about school records.

When asked about school records, Borchers explained that there was a large amount of data that had to be redacted (removed or blackened out) prior to releasing the records to the public.

In an email, Borchers listed the following items that must be redacted from education records prior to public viewing:

“In most cases, simply producing the record for inspection is not possible since the school system is compelled, by law, to search out and to redact the above-listed confidential information from any public record prior to its release for either inspection or copying. The law states that the school district can charge for those activities. (SEE: T.C.A. §10-7-503(a)(7)(C)(i) which states as follows: ‘[A] records custodian may require a requester to pay the custodian’s reasonable costs incurred in producing the requested material and to assess the reasonable costs in the manner established by the office of open records counsel,’” Borchers wrote.

Borchers also provided a link to a “Safe Haven Policy” that allows an agency to adopt the state’s fee schedule without implementation of a local policy. When asked about this safe haven, Hodge said that the district must vote on, and adopt, a statement that explains they are going to use the state’s fee schedule. Borchers confirmed in the email that the district is following the state’s fee schedule and that the statement will be included in the district’s policies that are currently under revision.